Polycrystalline diamond compacts having interstitial diamonds and methods of forming polycrystalline diamond compact shaving interstitial diamonds with a quench cycle are described herein. In one embodiment, a polycrystalline diamond compact includes a substrate and a polycrystalline diamond body attached to the substrate. The polycrystalline diamond body includes a plurality of inter-bonded diamond grains that are attached to one another in an interconnected network of diamond grains and interstitial pockets between the inter-bonded diamond grains, and a plurality of interstitial diamond grains that are positioned in the interstitial pockets. Each of the plurality of interstitial diamond grains are attached to a single diamond grain of the interconnected network of diamond grains or other interstitial diamond grains.

The subject invention provides safe, environmentally-friendly, compositions and methods for extracting minerals and/or metals from ore. More specifically, the subject invention provides for bioleaching using a composition comprising one or more biosurfactant-producing microorganisms and/or microbial growth by-products. In specific embodiments, the composition comprises biosurfactant-producing yeasts and/or their growth by-products.

A method for processing lithium ion battery scrap according to this invention includes a leaching step of leaching lithium ion battery scrap to obtain a leached solution; an aluminum removal step of neutralizing the leached solution to a pH range of from 4.0 to 6.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing aluminum in the leached solution to obtain a first separated solution; and an iron removal step of adding an oxidizing agent to the first separated solution and adjusting the pH in a range of from 3.0 to 5.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing iron in the first separated solution to obtain a second separated solution.

Method embodiments useful for recycling spent lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes to extract critical and/or valuable elements from LIBs are provided and involve mechanochemical processing of spent LIB electrodes in the presence of certain chemical agents to recover products that can include, but are not limited to, metallic solids such as elemental metals or metal alloys, and/or inorganic compounds, metal salts, or organometallic derivatives. The desired products can be separated from by-products and contaminants and further processed into LIB electrode materials or/and other substances.

A process and system is provided for recovery of one or more metal values using solution extraction techniques and for metal value recovery. In an exemplary embodiment, the solution extraction system comprises a first solution extraction circuit and a second solution extraction circuit. A first metal-bearing solution is provided to the first and second circuit, and a second metal-bearing solution is provided to the first circuit. The first circuit produces a first rich electrolyte solution, which can be forwarded to primary metal value recovery, and a low-grade raffinate, which is forwarded to secondary metal value recovery. The second circuit produces a second rich electrolyte solution, which is also forwarded to primary metal value recovery. The first and second solution extraction circuits have independent organic phases and each circuit can operate independently of the other circuit.

Compositions and methods are provided that provide recovery of metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, indium, and other metals are recovered from mine tailings, in situ ore bodies, or postconsumer waste. An amine-containing lixiviant is utilized to generate an aqueous solution of the desired metal from insoluble salts present in the source material. Metals can be recovered and further purified by various processes, including extraction into an immiscible organic solvent, electrowinning, crystallization, and chemical reduction. Spent lixiviant can be regenerated and recycled back into the metal recovery process.

A method of recovering a metal from a low-grade ore which is subjected to cyanide leaching to produce a PLS which contains a metal cyanide which is removed from the PLS by ultrafiltration and nano-filtration, and then acidified and sulphidised to produce a metal sulphide from which the metal is extracted, and hydrogen cyanide which is recycled to the cyanide leaching step.

The present invention relates to a method for extracting base and precious metals, all contained in refractory minerals, using aqueous media. The aim is to replace the current flotation/smelting-method for extracting minerals in Chilean and global mining or classical leaching with a method comprising a simple and robust pre-treatment that leads to solubilisation of the refractory matrices thereof. The method consists of mixing the mineral (Cu2S, CuS,CuFeS2, Cu5FeS4, FeS2, FeAsS.NiS, (Ni,Fe)xSy), ground to an appropriate size (2.5 centimetres), with a specific dose of solid reagent in a rotary agglomeration drum and then adding slightly acidified water to obtain a defined water content (5-8%) depending on the type of gangue contained in the metal-containing solid, thereby forming an agglomerate that will form a heap, which is subsequently allowed to stand for a period of several days (20-60 days), during which the conditions required to transform the refractory matrix into a highly soluble solid will be generated. Finally, appropriately regulated irrigation is applied, thus resulting in extraction of the metal by simple aqueous washing. In essence, the method achieves maximum transformation of the original refractory mineral into a highly soluble solid salt during a step prior to the conventional leaching process. Thus, the metal will be contained in a solid with a much higher solubility than the original matrix, therefore the dissolution thereof will be faster, more efficient and require a minimal use of consumables and reagents.

The present invention describes a method, which consists in decomposition of graptolite-argillite organometallic matter in anaerobic environment by a stable adapted microbial consortium, accompanied by bioleaching of metals and methane generation. Supporting experimental data are presented and the effect of betaine in biodegradation of argillite organometallic compounds is demonstrated. Microbial communities provoking these processes are characterized.

There is provided a method capable of effectively reducing the amount of acid used in a leaching step and the amount of a neutralizer used in a final neutralization step while nickel yield in a hydrometallurgical process for nickel oxide ore is not reduced. A method for pre-treating ore slurry according to the present invention is a method for pre-treating ore slurry to be provided to a leaching treatment in a hydrometallurgical process for nickel oxide ore, the method including: a first separation step for separating ore slurry into a coarse particle fraction and a fine particle fraction; a second separation step for separating the coarse particle fraction separated in the first separation step into a heavy specific gravity fraction and a light specific gravity fraction; and a vibration sieving step for separating, by a vibration sieve, the light specific gravity fraction.